Free Game Over by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles Page A

like an ape in his pleasure. ‘The only thing is I won’t be able to take you back there right away. A lot of stuff to do. Do you mind waiting? I mean, you can go off and do things, of course, and come back later. You don’t have to hang around the station.’
    ‘Don’t worry, I’ll fit in with whatever you have to do. I don’t want to get in the way of the investigation.’ They both got out of the car, and she faced him across the roof. ‘Right now I’d really love a cup of tea, though.’
    ‘Nothing easier. You can use the canteen. And if you want to crash out for a bit, you can use the soft room – the interview room where you went this morning. The sofa there’s not too bad.’
    They walked in together and up the stairs to the office, where her things had been stacked in a corner to wait for her. The first person Atherton saw as he entered was Joanna, sitting on the edge of a desk looking anxious. She jumped up as soon as she saw him. Until yesterday, it had given him a sharp pang to see her like that, all taut and curved down the front with Slider’s baby. Today, since meeting Emily, he was filled only with friendly affection. They kissed cheeks.
    ‘Where is he?’ she asked.
    ‘Still at the site. Don’t worry,’ he said, and introduced Emily Stonax before she could say anything inappropriate.
    Joanna’s face immediately registered concern and vicarious distress. It was one of the things Slider liked about her, that every feeling – and often every thought – was visible in her expression. As a policeman he was so accustomed to being lied to it was refreshing to know a person without guile.
    She held out her hand to Emily. ‘I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘I can’t begin to imagine how awful you must feel.’
    Emily shook the hand. ‘At the moment I think I’m cushioned a bit by jetlag. I only got in from New York this morning.’
    Atherton said, ‘Emily’s pining for a cup of tea. Could you show her the way to the canteen?’
    ‘It’s all right, I can find it,’ Emily said.
    But Joanna said, ‘I’m dying for one myself. Do you mind if I come with you?’
    ‘No, I’d be glad of the company.’
    ‘Will you tell me when he gets back?’ Joanna asked Atherton, and they went off together.
    ‘So you’re Inspector Slider’s . . . partner?’ Emily said, a little hesitantly, as they walked up the stairs.
    ‘Soon to be wife,’ Joanna said. ‘It’s just that it’s so hard to find a time when we’re both free. Whenever we do tentatively fix a date for the wedding, something always comes up.’
    ‘Like my father.’
    ‘I’m so sorry. I hope you didn’t think I meant—’
    ‘No, no. Look, if we’re going to sit and have tea together, you’ll have to not tiptoe round me. The whole thing’s too awful for me to know what I feel about anything yet. I’m pretty numb, if you want the truth.’
    ‘Probably just as well,’ said Joanna.
    The canteen was almost empty. They got tea and Joanna, feeling they needed a sugar hit, picked up a packet of two giant chocolate chip cookies, and they made their way to a table by the window.
    ‘It must be strange for you,’ Emily said when they were seated. ‘What’s it like to be with a man who investigates murders for a living?’
    ‘I used to mind it terribly at first,’ Joanna said, tearing the end off the cookie packet. ‘I’ve had to switch off from it a bit, they way they do. They can’t get emotional or it interferes with their judgement.’ She handed one of the cookies to Emily, who took it absently. ‘All the same, he minds dreadfully. He’s always very depressed at the end of a case, when the adrenaline lets him down and he’s able to let his feelings loose.’ She smiled faintly. ‘That’s where I come in – general hand-holding, head-cradling and so on.’
    Emily nodded seriously. ‘That must be tough. How did you meet him?’
    ‘He investigated the murder of a violinist I shared a desk with. I was about her only